Screw head cutting cap



Patented June 3, 1941 TED STATES FATE? FEQE 2 Claims.

My invention relates to a screw head cutting cap and has referenceparticularly to a cutting cap to be used in the construction of cartonsen closing furniture or similar merchandise and adapted to facilitatethe removal of the furniture from the carton in which it is packed.

It has become common practice to use paper cartons for enclosing andprotecting articles of furniture While being shipped from the factory tothe merchant and thence to the purchaser. The carton is usuallyconstructed about the particular piece of furniture to be shipped and inorder to create a working surface to which to attach the carton, a stripof wood, commercially known as the suspension lumber, is placed alongthe back of the furniture and aflixed thereto by means of several woodscrews. The back panel of the car-ton is then attached to the suspensionlumber by roofing nails, and the balance of the carton is constructedupon the back panel and suspension lumber. The difficulty with thisarrangement is that the panel completely covers the suspension lumberand with it the wood screws, so that when the time comes to remove thefurniture from its carton there are no means to determine where the woodscrews are located. If the delivery is made to the purchaser it becomesnecessary to rip off sections of the back panel to expose thescrew-heads with the result that considerable litter is scattered about.This entire difficulty is the result of the fact that the heads of thescrews are hidden beneath the surface of the carton and cannot be easilylocated for removal.

With the foregoing in mind it is the purpose of the present invention toprovide means carried by the heads of the wood screws, attaching thesuspension lumber to the piece of furniture, to expose the screw headsto the outside of the carton and to facilitate removal of the screwswithout ripping the carton.

I accomplish this object by means of a screwhead cutting cap, oneembodiment of which will be described in the following specification,set forth in the appended claims and illustratively exemplified in theaccompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is an elevational view of theback of a carton, showing the suspension lumber and cutting cap;

Figure 2 is a substantially longitudinal sectional view of a section offurniture and suspension lumber and cutting cap embedded in the panel ofthe carton;

Figure 3 is a sectional view of the cutting cap; and

Figure 4 is an elevational view of the same.

Referring to the drawing, l denotes the article of furniture housedWithin a paper carton l l and provided along its rear wall with a stripof suspension lumber l2. The carton comprises the usual top, bottom andsides of corrugated paper.

The suspension lumber I2 is fastened to the rear or other part of thearticle of furniture by means of wood screws l3, but before each screwis applied a screw-head cutting cap M is placed over the shank of thescrew, as illustrated in Figure 2, and when the screw is driven home thecap will project outwardly of the suspension lumber I2. The cutting cap[4 comprises a thimble of hard metal, preferably steel, which is openand provided with a cutting edge l5 at its outer end, while the otherend is closed and provided with an opening IE to accommodate the shankof the screw l3, the head thereof seating against the closed end.

The panel of the carton is then placed over the suspension lumber l2 andattached thereto by means of roofing nails I 1 or other suitablefastening means. The portion of the panel overlying the cutting edge l5of the cap I4 is punched out as the panel is driven against the lumberl2 and the cap is exposed and with it the screw head. The walls of thecap I4 also provide a guide for the screw driver in locating and holdingthe same in the groove of the screw head.

To remove the carton from the furniture it is simply necessary to removethe screws [3, which disconnect the suspension lumber l2 from thefurniture, and which permit the latter to be moved out of the carton inthe usual manner.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: I

1. The combination with a suspension lumber member attached to anarticle by means of a screw and the panel of a carton attached to saidlumber member, of a thimble-shaped, hard metal member accommodating thehead of the screw and being provided with an aperture in its bottomthrough which the screw stem projects into the lumber member, the openend of said thimble facing outwardly and being provided with acontinuous cutting edge to punch through the carton panel.

2. A screw head cutting cap for use with a screw for attaching asuspension lumber member to an article for shipment, said lumber memberproviding means for securing a panel of a shipping carton to saidarticle with the panel overlying the head of the screw, said cap beingin the form of a thimble-shaped hard metal member having a fiat bottomand being provided on its open end with a continuous cutting edge topunch through the wall of the carton, said flat bottom being closedexcept for a central hole of a diameter smaller than that of saidcutting edge to receive the shank of the screw.

IRA LEROY WALES, J'R.

